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I’ve often wondered how they do it: how can Bristol Motor Speedway, a little half-mile bullring, squeeze 160,000 fans into its stands when Talladega Superspeedway, at 2.66 miles around, the longest track on the Sprint Cup circuit, only holds 137,000 fans?
Good planning and construction, I guess.
I’ve seen hundreds of NASCAR races over the years, but there’s something about BMS that always gets me a little more excited and looking forward to the races there than anywhere else.
I’ll never forget my first trip to Bristol many years ago. As was the case with this weekend, it was the annual late August Saturday night race.
When the green flag dropped, the place showed a life and vibrancy that virtually overwhelmed the senses more so than I’ve experienced at any other racetrack or stadium in over 35 years of covering sports.
The first thing that came to mind was the incredible sound as the cars roared into turn one, as if I was in the middle of a nest of angry hornets, with the way the sound reverberated up, down and all around BMS.
A close second was the strobe light-like vision of tens of thousands of flashbulbs popping – like a virtual electronic version of “the wave” (you remember the wave, don’t you?) – while the cars passed from turn one through turn four and back again.
Third was the smell of car exhaust sent into the atmosphere through unmuffled motors, followed by the smell of burning rubber from tires taking a beating as the race cars climbed and descended Bristol’s fabled high banks.
Within the first five laps, my senses started to become slightly overwhelmed. My ears rang worse than the loudest rock concert I ever attended. My eyes were full of black spots from all the camera flashes.
And soon my breathing became short and labored by the volume of exhaust and tire smell that seemingly draped over the infield – an infield, by the way, that was packed so tight that Bristol and Martinsville are the only places on the circuit that you not only can bounce into someone every few steps, but you can wind up bumping into yourself if you try hard enough.
Sure, going to Bristol has its downside, most notably the incredible post-race traffic jams that make a Los Angeles freeway at rush hour look more like a wide open two-lane country road.
No joke, there have been instances where I’ve sat in traffic for a longer period of time leaving the track than it took for the actual race to be completed.
But that’s okay, that’s part of the charm of Bristol. It’s a special place that usually means special times on race weekends. And to enjoy all the excitement, sometimes you also have to have a great deal of patience. That’s fine.
People often ask me, “If I had one place to go see a NASCAR race in-person one time in my life, which track would that be?”
Hands down, that little old bullring in Eastern Tennessee, where the action, excitement and senses will be in high gear once again this Saturday night.
Have a good weekend, everyone, and we’ll catch you back here on Monday.
We’ll have to talk more about BMS Jerry. It’s a place that I have never been, but always wanted to go.
As I sit here at my desk, after reading your thoughts about BMS, I can almost smell the unmistakable smell of racing. One of the first things I do when I get to the track is watch the cars at practice, and breath deep.
Have a great weekend!
-Taglia
(Thought of the day: Have you ever experienced da ja vu and amnesia at the same time? I think I did once, but I forgot.)
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